New Years Resolutions and Challenges

SURPRISE, I’m back! After a month and a bit of a blogging hiatus due to mental and physical health issues, I’m returning to the land of ashlexyz. I’m ready and motivated to come back to the blogging world so it only seems right that my first post of 2017 is my resolutions, even if it is a little late! Every year since I can remember, my number one resolution has been to lose weight so this year I’m switching it up and adding in some challenges for me to tackle that will hopefully help me with my resolutions!

Before I start the resolutions, I’d just like to quickly thank everyone for their continued support on my blog during my hiatus – even without posting I’ve had quite a number of views and new followers which definitely motivated me. I especially want to thank everyone over on twitter for being so understanding and supportive – you’re all stars! Now then, enough of the babble and lets get on with the post!

RESOLUTIONS

Be happy with myself

My goal this year isn’t to lose weight, but it is to work on myself and become a happier, healthier and all round better version of myself. I want to be happy both mentally and physically, so I will be adapting my lifestyle to help me meet mental and physical goals.

Show my emotions more

I’ve always been pretty bad at showing my emotions which can get very frustrating for other people. I’ve been with my boyfriend for almost two years and I don’t know how he’s put up with my lack of affection and emotion, so this year I definitely want to start showing more appreciation for him especially.

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Blog, blog, blog!

I want to carry on blogging and make it even bigger and better! I only started blogging in September – but I’ve already achieved so many of my blogging goals that I set out for a year of blogging! I’m going to carry on working on my blog, with my biggest goal being to work on my photography to improve my posts.

Read more books

There’s really nothing better than getting lost in a good book and over the last 3 years whilst I’ve been at uni I lost my passion for reading. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve not lost the passion for buying endless amounts of books – which means I’ve got a huge pile to get through, so 2017 is definitely the year!

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CHALLENGES

Drink nothing but water for one month

It’s not that I’m bad at drinking water – I just never see the positive effects of it because my diet is so poor. For one whole month, I’m going to drink nothing but water and hope that linked with my healthier eating, I should see the positives and hopefully continue a healthy lifestyle after the months up. I’ll be cutting out tea, coffee, juice and fizzy drinks and literally consuming no other drink but water!

Unsubscribe from unwanted emails

I’m sure I’m not the only person that signs up to something for a one time only deal and the regrets it for the rest of my life when I get endless amounts of emails and spam from them. What do I do about it? Delete the email and carry on receiving them. Not this year! I will be actively unsubscribing from the unwanted emails to end the unnecessary amount of emails I receive daily.

Make breakfast a priority

For long enough I would wake up early for university or work and feel sick to my stomach so I wouldn’t eat breakfast. I stupidly blamed the early start for my constant sicky feeling but it turns out when I went to the doctors about my anxiety and got put on medication for it – the sickness disappeared. Now I’m in the routine of skipping breakfast which is a bad habit I want to break this year!

Hopefully I can stick to these resolutions and I can tackle the challenges like a boss. This post is going up 2 weeks into the new year and so far, I’m drinking more water, eating breakfast more often and stepping up my blogging game so we’re off to a good start!

Have you set yourself any resolutions or challenges? I’d love to know what they are!

XO,

Ashley

P.S, follow my twitter for an exciting giveaway coming soon!

91 thoughts on “New Years Resolutions and Challenges

  1. LostinLife says:

    I hope you are feeling better. It’s good to have goals but remember you are human. Don’t beat yourself up if you get a little of track. Just keep trying. Good luck with your new year.

    Be kind to yourself

    Nancy xx

    Liked by 1 person

    • ashlexyz says:

      Always a great thing to remember! I normally feel so defeated by the end of the year when I realise I didn’t achieve certain things – that’s why I wanted a new method this year! Thank you for your kind words x

      Like

    • ashlexyz says:

      I love a good challenge so hopefully they will motivate me to achieve my resolutions! Unwanted emails are the ultimate annoyance. I created an entirely new email just so I didn’t have to open my old email to face the millions of spam emails! x

      Like

  2. Zehra says:

    I love these resolutions!! The book buying I can totally relate you… I’ve got my own pile building up that I haven’t even tried to read, oops! Working on my own happiness and mental health is a big one for me this year to ensure no one else can make me feel inferior

    Zehra xx

    Liked by 1 person

    • ashlexyz says:

      Buying books is just so satisfying. I love bookstores as well, they make me feel so comfortable! I think that should be a goal for everyone, all the time. Not enough people take care of their mental health so hopefully this will be the year for that! x

      Like

    • ashlexyz says:

      Yes, exactly! I’m so lame for repeatedly scrolling facebook, twitter and instagram! There’s really no need for the amount of refreshing I do on social media so I think social media time could become actual reading time! xo

      Like

  3. JustRere says:

    Wow this sounds so much like me and my goals. I hope you are able to reach your goals this year. I use an app for the water challenge called plant nanny, check it out it may help.

    Liked by 1 person

    • ashlexyz says:

      Working on your mentality is one of the most difficult challenges, because it literally is challenging your brain and how it works! This is something I’m working on too so I can fully understand. I hope you have the best 2017 and smash your goals! xo

      Like

  4. possiblysami says:

    Aw, it’s nice to see you set yourself some interesting but important goals. I hope everyday brings you success and happiness! loved reading this post girly x

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Penny Bedford says:

    What a thoughtful post about what you want to be different and better. I’m all for that, and like you, have vowed to try and adopt a positive outlook for 2017. So far so good I’d say given I’m usually a glass half empty person. Things like unsubscribing too – such a good idea as they are so annoying.
    Good luck!

    Liked by 1 person

    • ashlexyz says:

      That’s exactly what it is – more positive mindsets! I’m hoping by the end of the year I’ll have a clear email list and a healthier mind! Thank you & best wishes to you for the new year xo

      Like

  6. Conney says:

    You have some great resolutions here 🙂 I especially love that you want to be happier with yourself! This is so important, much more important than weight lost or anything. And you just reminded me to start making breakfast a priority too… I skip it so often, it’s definitely not healthy :/

    Liked by 1 person

    • ashlexyz says:

      Thank you! Absolutely, being happier is my biggest goal – and there’s so many more things that go into that rather than just ‘losing weight’! Breakfast is the hardest meal of the day for me to stomach, but it’s definitely getting easier the more I eat it! xo

      Like

    • ashlexyz says:

      I can’t take credit for the book jar unfortunately – but no I haven’t yet started! We All Looked Up is one of the ones I’m absolutely dying to read so I might just ignore the book jar for a little longer! xo

      Like

  7. Corinne & Kirsty says:

    I can completely relate on the what about emotions. I am the same and it’s a resolution of mine to try show my boyfriend what I feel. Some work to do there I guess. They all are great resolutions! xx Corinne from Corinne & Kirsty

    Like

    • ashlexyz says:

      Showing emotions is a difficult one… it’s part of my personality to be so quiet and closed off about certain things, but then I understand how frustrating it can be so it’s a change that needs to happen! xo

      Like

  8. whatadifferenceawordmakes says:

    Unwanted e-mails are one of those things that I’ve always put up with and never actually considered doing anything about! Definitely a good goal. I might do that too! I’ve been trying to drink more water too but I’m finding it hard to break out of my habit of just not drinking very much. And stepping up my bloggin game that’s one of the big ones! It sounds like you’re nailing it so far- keep up the good work!

    Like

    • ashlexyz says:

      Exactly – I’m fed up of junk emails filling my inbox all the time so it’s time to make a stand haha. So far I’ve been encouraging myself to drink more water but haven’t cut out my tea yet! I can’t bring myself to drink more than 3, maximum 4 glasses a day! Good luck with all of your goals! xo

      Like

  9. Emily says:

    These are excellent resolutions! Breakfast is so important, but I usually end up eating a Clif bar at my desk when I get to work. I didn’t eat breakfast at all until I noticed last year that my stomach would get upset after having coffee in the morning.

    Congrats on reaching all your one year blogging goals so early, and good luck with being more open about your feelings. It’s hard, but trust comes in time.

    Xoxo
    Emily
    emilyhallock.blogspot.com

    Like

    • ashlexyz says:

      Coffee is dangerous -so addictive to drink and definitely helps the movement of things. I had to stop drinking as much coffee because of that same reason! Thank you, I’m hoping this year is full of lots more blogging fun! xo

      Like

    • ashlexyz says:

      That’s so true. I always get bored but instead of picking up a book, I’ll scroll social media and watch crap telly that I’m not interested in at all! Thank you lovely, good luck with any goals you have! xo

      Liked by 1 person

  10. Sophie says:

    Ah I’m glad you’re back! I hope you achieve all of these but remember no pressure if you don’t ~ I too need to get on top of emails and drink more water, it definitely contributes to how bad I feel sometimes 😦 xx

    sophieannetaylor.blogspot.co.uk

    Liked by 1 person

    • ashlexyz says:

      Thank you lovely! I keep reminding myself when I realise I haven’t even picked up a book yet that there’s no rush! I agree, I’ve started to drink more water (without cutting the tea etc) and have already noticed a difference in how I feel, so hopefully my body starts demonstrating the positives of water too! xo

      Like

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